Revit is a powerful Building Information Modelling (BIM) software tool created by Autodesk. It is used by architects, engineers and designers, as well as other professionals in the MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) industry to aid the design and development of their building projects. While you may be familiar with Revit, you may not be as familiar with the term, Revit MEP families. These are essentially building blocks featured within the software to allow you to design and build models more effectively.
What are Revit MEP Families?
Revit MEP families are amazing tools that come predefined in the software. You can also create custom elements from scratch using the Revit Family Editor to suit your particular building model. This flexibility gives you the ability to more effectively manage your projects and build your designs.
Families can be broken down into three categories:
· System families
· Loadable families
· In-place families
System families are predefined in the software and consist of basic elements founds on a construction site such as walls, roofs, floors, stairs, ramps, ducts and pipes. You cannot create, copy, modify or delete system families, although you can duplicate and modify to create your own custom system families within Revit.
Loadable families are used when you wish to create building components such as doors, windows and furniture or system components such as boilers and plumbing fixture. Due to the fact that they can be customised, they are the most common family utilised within Revit. They are created in external RFA files and easily imported into your project.
In-place families are created within Revit and are modelled using specific geometrical measurements. These elements tend to be unique and will apply to a current project. You can only use in-place families in the project in which you created them. In-place families utilise many of the same tools required for creating loadable families.
How do you create Revit MEP Families?
Revit MEP families are comprised of common components used in building. While it is not necessarily difficult to customise your own families in the Revit Family Editor for use within your design, it can be time-consuming.
To create a family taking into account its particular constraints and parameters, you will first need to define the size and geometry using a template provided in Revit. You can then save the family for future use, share it with colleagues or load it into any project when needed.
Revit MEP families offer libraries of content for your personal use and are ultimately the cornerstone of Revit. Thanks to the Revit MEP families, you will ultimately have more creative freedom when it comes to designing your projects.